Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Canyon Zone Committee took another big step towards achieving an incredible victory over the Angry Handymen, the residents on Highland got a good look at both sides of the Mayor's face, and City Staff worked very hard to "encumber" CRA money that they might never get to spend.

In other words, it was just another every other Tuesday evening in the All American City from four years ago. The good, the bad, and the kinda foolish.

The meeting kicked off with some commentary on the meaning of the word "sustainability." MaryAnn MacGillivray noted that at a recent SCAG meeting, which is at the very heart and soul of the sustainability faith, nobody really had an adequate definition of that rather loaded word. MaryAnn made light of this, reading a particularly inane definition put out by one of SCAG's bigdomes. Which caused Mayor Pro Tem Buchanan to both bristle and proclaim that his band of merry droogs on the Green Committee would soon be answering that question, and to everyone's satisfaction and amazement.

Now I am certainly no expert on sustainability, though I do use my blue trash can to recycle paper products. But I did find a definition of "sustainability" on Google that I hope will help the Green Committee out. This from a website called ScienceDirect:

Sustainability: an ill-defined concept and its assessment using fuzzy logic - Sustainability is an inherently vague concept whose scientific definition and measurement still lack wide acceptance. Fuzzy logic is well suited to handle such a vague, uncertain, and polymorphous concept. In this paper, we develop a model called Sustainability Assessment by Fuzzy Evaluation (SAFE), which provides a mechanism for measuring developmental sustainability.

It might be a little presumptuous of me to draw any conclusions this early, but I suspect that the Green Committee will play it SAFE when constructing their vision of what exactly sustainability might be.

The first thing to happen of real significance was the hearing on the Canyon Zone Ordinance. To say this was a wash would be inaccurate because there was a winning party. It would also be incorrect to say this portion of the meeting was a bridge to nowhere, covered or not. And obviously anyone who thinks a life of easement awaits them because they'll be able claim as their very own the washes that run through the Canyon has yet to meet with something called Los Angeles County. But that is probably because they just don't get down the hill very much.

I'll have a lot more Canyon information on Thursday, but the highlight for me was how Josh Moran's concerns were so easily brushed aside by the adults on the City Council. Particularly his arguments about those famous house lots on Marlborough Terrace. That little bit of tendentiousness just did not have the wings to fly. Even Nancy Walsh was onto him, bless her heart.

Heritage Housing showed up to give a brief spiel on how they would take the Old Church on W. Highland and turn it into housing for the poor, or maybe the not so poor. The residents who live on Highland also showed up and expressed their anger at being completely left out of the discussion. After all, the City quickly moving towards signing a contract with a developer who would then put low income housing into their neighborhood without even bothering to ask them for their opinions was not a civil act. Or even remotely honorable.

Mayor Mosca, who of course did not care to inquire about what the residents on Highland might actually think about this, then proclaimed that he was very concerned about their opinions and he wanted to - naturally - form a committee. And Highland residents would even be invited to participate. Which will, as The Process goes forward, basically be a one-sided dialogue with the City telling these residents that low income housing must be built in Sierra Madre and that their neighborhood was chosen. And that there is nothing anyone can do.

There will be some nuances thrown in. The "CRA owns it so it has to be low income housing" bit Joe channeled will certainly be included in whatever meetings are held. Along with RHNA numbers, the "Housing Element," and all the rest of that rhythm.

The accusation by a Highland resident that this Heritage Homes contract was being rushed was denied by many sitting at the big table. Which is unfortunate, but hardly out of character. The City needs to get that contract signed just as quickly as possible because if they don't the designated CRA moneys will be taken away by Sacramento when the State Legislature acts to abolish redevelopment agencies.

My advice to the Highland folks is to delay the City as much as you can, and when that is no longer possible hire a good lawyer. The City is definitely working under some serious time constraints here, and the longer you can drag it out the better the chances are that the CRA funding needed to turn the Old Church into low income housing will be taken away by Jerry Brown. At which time the nightmare will come to an end.

Billy Shields (not the guy from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I presume), came to speak about his company and their desire to turn the decrepit Skilled Nursing Facility into a Senior Living Community. Which Mr. Shields also called an Assisted Living Facility. There would be 90 elderly residents housed there, with the average age being 83.

Billy seemed like an on the level and sincere gentleman, with the best possible intentions. I don't ordinarily make those kind of judgements based on a single SM Channel 3 appearance, but I'm going to go out on a limb here. And isn't it ironic that after all of the many things the Skilled Nursing Facility was supposed to become over the last several years, it could now be going back to what it originally was? A place for elderly people to receive the care they need?

The last thing worth talking about was all the CRA chatter. And it took MaryAnn MacGillivray to bring the elephant out into the open. What exactly would happen to the City's CRA 5 Year Plan if Jerry Brown has his way and kills off redevelopment agencies? To which SandiLevin replied that the purpose of this 5 Year Plan is to shield Sierra Madre's remaining CRA money from the state should this happen. In other words, this is actually less of a plan and more of a tactic.

Which means, and as we have been saying here on The Tattler all along, Sierra Madre is just like every other City trying to hide CRA funds from Jerry Brown.

Yes, I do enjoy being right.

Oh, and one other thing. This blog will never ever take the side of City Hall when it comes to redevelopment. No matter what the considerations. What is happening now on Highland is just not what our City is all about.

82 comments:

A skilled nursing facility in the old Sierra Madre Community Hospital will be a good thing. It does not necessarily mean old people as sometimes rehabilitation is necessary for other aged people with injuries or ailments that need long-term care. Also, it would bring another layer of health care for the city in the case of an emmergency where we will be cut off from our nearest hospitlals by expected freeway underpass collapse.

It seems the League of obscure politicians has taken a side in breatheing life into the CRA by starting it's 20 million dollar ad campaign to stop Brown from shuttering the CRA.They are supposed to be working for the people, wanting affordable housing, but would rather take money from our schools, disabled, and poor to do so. How ironic.They are out of control. When you see John Buchanan, tell him how morally bankrupt he is.Funding the CRA does nothing but fund the pockets of a few well connected developers.Developers need to fund their own projects, with their own money, not with taxpayers money.

I did not see any of you except for John C who lives on the east side of the school the last two years when this was being discussed over and over. Postcards were sent out to everyone in the city. Why weren't you at any of the meetings? Why didn't you read the Housing Element when it was being circulated? Why didn't you read the Tattler? Why didn't you read the Mountain Views News or any other publications? This is what happens. You are getting what you deserve. It is too late.Reason: You were too busy to get involved.

The assisted living LLC is a very sophisticated developer. The city is about to be out witted, out smarted, and out maneuvered. After listening to their presentation they are already playing the City like a violin. They proposed plan is in violation of our General Plan. The proposed building is going to have a footprint of 3/4 acre and be two stories tall. They are calling the residential living areas units so they can provide less parking instead of basing it on the total square footage of the building. Calling the staff area commercial is a stretch of the imagination. This is truly a medical 58,000 sq ft building. Beside everything above this group is going to want many concessions from the City. They will want to provide parking based on the 23 residential units rather than square footage, but then they will not want to pay the developer impact fees associated with the 23 units. They will want it to be treated as a single building.The City Council, Planning Commission, and Development Department are no match for these men. This could be a great project for the City but we need to be the ones calling the shots, not the out- of- towners in the suits.

Maybe it is time to bust the city on the irregular use of conservancy, HUD and other monies for the YAC along with the fictitious projections of use by Sierra Madre residents to acquire the funding for the project. This is why when in the past the city would 'threaten' to close the YAC and lose "the pograms for the youth and the staff" it was pointed out they would have to give the money back as it was encumbered under false pretenses.

The Church/YAC/Senior Housing--alert the Attorney General. Let them know of the past irregularities. Sell the church property in a real open market and let the land be developed as per Measure V if it is in our 'downtown CRA zone' or as it is zoned for housing now, or saved as a historical site, if it can, then give the money back to the state to fund schools, etc.

The 40% of the estimated 90 folks in the proposed Assisted Living Center will be in the "memory unit", i.e. Alzheimer's and dementia patients. They don't do much driving. With an average age of 83 I suspect not a lot of the other 60% will be driving either. Cue up the Gateway Shuttle, or maybe they'll have their own van(s). What is good is that there will be at least 25 new jobs in town for the staff.

What wasn't clear last night: Has the property been sold? Is this a done deal? Or is this a fishing trip to see if they can cut a deal with the City of Sierra Madre to build...

is a surprise to anyone that this Council majority and City Manager secretly planned a development without informing the residents of Highland?

they've lied before and misrepresented the facts with other issues, why not this one?

now, what I think is funny is a major Mosca and Buchanan supporter(s) live across and near the project and it sort of serves them right that their fearless and inept leader would ignore them..once they had the votes and again use their Council position for their own private agenda

True the patients do not reqwuire much parking but their visitors, doctors, deliveries and staff do. You are also assuming that the jobs will go to people in the city. Caring for the elderly requires very special training. It is not a job for the common folk in town.

Also we are talking about a building that will be here for many years and the proposed use could change to even 24 single condos inside the building or the interior could be gutted completely and be come anything you want.

Everyone wants a good project on that property. Just don't give up tooooo much.

like usual, city staff and the council majority are getting all glassy eyed and misty because a developer is in town - they cater to outside interests more than our own

and when they do cater to our interest...like the water pipes...they Mayor and Pro Temp lie to us and hide their special pork projects

either the developer follows the codes or ...he can ignore them like the Cong Church and nobody has the courage to call them on the breach of ethics

imagine that...a Christian church with wayward ethics with our building codes...

and anybody who believes that housing for the "poor" will be built on Highland...Joe Mosca has a exploding water pipe he'd like to sell you

puhlease, "poor" housing in Sierra Madre are $ 600k condos and wait until Josh Moran gets his little grubby fingers on development projects and watch that he'll steer info to his Webb Martin friends about projects and he'll be trying to sell mortages within minutes of the projects being approved

and it'd serve the Mosca/Buchanan/Walsh/Moran supporters right that live near the Highland ex-church-ex yac property and voting for the uncivil Council majority

7:58, I am one of those who learned that if you do not follow city business, you are likely to not like the results, but you really need to give the Highland folks a break. The MAJORITY of Sierra Madre residents do not participate in city government or even vote.Scolding won't help. Support their efforts and offer them advice that you have because you've been involved.

Too many people let life just happen to them and when it does they want others to fix the mess for them. The Highland folks are an examople. Time they got involved and cared about the city as a whole not just their neighborhood. I bet that once the issues are addressed you will never see them at a City council meeting again.

Highland Avenue neighbors, follow the Moderator's advice!Start fundraising for your lawyer NOWDo not trust anyone on the council or staff, except MaryAnn MacGillvrey. All the others have fostered or want to foster development.You have sad history lessons to find out about, and then you'll see why you have to get a lawyer.

City Attorney Levin absolutely blew my little mind when she talked about how to try to boondoggle the state. I can see now how she boondoggled us about the Prop 218 process. So she tells the council that they need to tell the state "We got here first" meaning the loosey goosey money grab that CRAs do, and that the constitution protects against impairment of contracts, so if we get the contracts in place, hey we can screw the state out of even more money than we already have.

Great moment in last nights meeting: the city manager asked the council for the approval to enter into talks with Heritage Builders, and somebody from the audience yelled out "Why talk to them before you talk to us?"That's the person who could lead the Highland people.Of course he was hushed by the mayor, no doubt on lack of civility, but what an on point question.

The posters who are criticizing the Highland Avenue people for getting to the party late are taking the same tack that the city staff and council majority did, though they might not realize it. Joe talked about how the church was bought a decade ago, Elaine and Josh talked about 2009, and Josh had the gall to say he wanted to bring the Higland Avenue residents "up to understanding".

Did you notice the language of the developer from Poway?They have a fully developed plan, with flexibility, but 90 residents, staff of 25 and 58,000 square feet is set, the speaker will be fully invested, no might be, no if/then, and they will be meeting neighbors, at the same time they submit plans. More after the fact neighbor meetings.

I prefer the Assisted Living plan to the Wisteria Village retail/55 condo mix, but thought it was interesting the developer was from Poway. That's where the Capital Source hire to oversee that troubled real estate asset known as Stonegate was from, another developer out of Poway.

10:09 - I'm just laughing at a couple of those that live near the Highland property.

Several had Mosca - Moran - Walsh signs and a couple I had conversations with had nothing but disdain for those opposing Mosca - Moran and basically called those opposing Mosca as hateful and anti gay and nothing about his pattern of lying and using Sierra Madre for his own political gain.

So, I find it amusing that those so entranced by Joe and Buchanan are now finding out what most of us knew all along - they are both using whomever and whatever they want and will turn their back on you in a heartbeat.

I'd think it was funny to have really low income housing right across the street from adamant Mosca fans - those who would barely speak to me because I thought Kurt Zimmermann cared more about the city than transplant and immediate politician Joe Mosca.

When Josh Moran claims to have information or support - run for the hills.

They should lower the lot to SMB street level and make the lot level with the SMB grade. The lots north of the property need to be protected and well as the view of the mountains from SMB. Google 58,000 square feet building and clidk on images. Big Buildings.

Did anyone else catch Heritage Housing Partners explain how the project could be restricted to certain populations as in fire, police, teachers, Sierra Madre, etc? If that is possible, and I believe the spokesperson knows whereof he speaks, how come the Esperanza senior housing project couldn't be restricted to SM seniors? By the way, Heritage Housing Partners converted Rose Tree Cottages in Pasadena to Haskell Court, which by anyone's standards is pretty spiffy. We could do worse than to have them advise us on how to go forward. The NIMBY Highland residents should climb down off their high horses, acknowledge that they've known for years this day would come, and get serious about guiding the project rather than using the head in the sand approach.

We need this organization! At least to explain our options! If we leave it to Moran and the local realtor/developer sharks, we'll have another boondoggle on a magniturd of the YAC. These people are presrvationists!

I went to South Gate a few months ago to work on a Habitat for Humanity project that was being done by returned Peace Corps volunteers. They rehabed an existing 1950's tract house, tore down the illegal garage interior, lean-to appartment addition to bring it up to code and did a splendid job of making housing available to a moderate middle income neighborhood. Why not something like that in Sierra Madre? Take the Church, it is zoned for multiple units now (R-2 or R-3?) same as down Hermosa around the corner, rehab it with additions that includes adequate parking as per code. No reason why there can't be a solution to this that make sense. On the open market, not CRA!!! Schools not pork for development/developers.

One of Moran's funnier moments. He was talking about the tension between private property rights and "the perceived rights of the community". Hearing himself, he corrected that phrase and said well,no, no the "rights of the community'.

The ironic opening to the meeting with Mayor Mosca quoting Desmond Tutu's no justice, no peace. This from a man who has avoided coming clean about lying and lying and lying, and being elected anyway. How's that for justice?

I do not want to be unkind here, but has anybody else noticed that councilmember Walsh doesn't seem to be following the discussions clearly? When she speaks she seems to contradict herself and really misunderstand the points at hand. Again, I am not trying to be harsh, but her logic is not reasonable.

If we are entering into a new phase, "agreed to development", we have a lot of "red flags" happening around us. Now may be the time to hire our own "consulltant" to manage construction. Glendale is knee deep in shoddy construction fraud. The community college 5B construction effort is unfolding as a catastrophic problem; Montbello can't find 1M stashed away in bank accounts.Our City Engineer and Planning Directors are not qualified to plan and monitor the fast talking developer backed by their own consultants. We are about to get fleeced!

Don't know about the specific plan amendment 1:40, but I got a hoot out of it when the developer said the building would match the Cong school on Hermosa, which some of us remember because it was illegally built and is in violation of Measure V.

So far I'm in favor of the assisted living use of the SNF. I agree with 11:16 that we need to fight for the mountain views, but other than that, it's one of the better plans we've had for that abandoned building.

Good election news. Mosca's PUSD candidate Tom 'The Timeserver' Selinske didn't get 50% of the vote yesterday and faces a runoff against Sean Baggett. We really do need to get out to vote and make sure Selinske is sent packing.

I looked at Sunrise at San Marino. Entry level accomodations begin at $4K/month. Sunrise at San Marino was listed as one of the facilities that Fountain blah blah had built. I googled Fountin blah blah, and if it's the same outfit, they are nationwide. Makes you wonder why they are choosing to explore Sierra Madre...

I for one think that 90 plus elders will drive our costs up precipitously - remember how the emergency ambulance trips dropped off when the SNF closed? Frankly I don't see the upside to this facility for our town, but it is private property, and Fountain blah blah will be paying plenty in property taxes.

About the old church on Highland, has anyone even looked at what Heritage Housing does? This is not some project style rental property. It's not section 8 housing. Everything I see on their website looks great, and remember that they are limited to 30 ft and 2 stories. We should at least look at what they are proposing to do with the property. Please look for yourself.

The former church property on Highland Avenue used to be the City's Youth Activity Center until the BIA controlled council under Doyle and Stockly decided the City should spend $3+ million dollars on a "new" one.

Ironically, the former church property on Highland was situated within walking distance of all the schools in town. The "new" Youth Activity Center is on the border of the City, no where near a school and barely operable.

No wonder why children prefer to congregate in and around Kersting Court.

but, 3:36, weren't the neighbors up in arms becauswe the YAC was loud, noisy, and a nuisance? didn't they want it moved to the rec center? the kids will prefer Kersting Court over the YAC any day of the week because there's no supevision and they can bounce in and out of the shops shop lifting.

while the old YAC was unsupervised and kids ran sort of wild - the new YAC is an ugly eyesore overbuilt and a momument to the bonehead moves of past councils and our current council was trying to build a new 7 million dollar library as their legacy

leave it to Joe Mosca to be utterly confused and bewildered at those who pause and ask him questions - leave it to Joe to form a commmittee

Welcome to our Highland neighbors, new activists. Organize, some of you will have to pick up leadership roles, start talking with the survivors of the One Carter debacle, the Stonehouse impending disaster, the Measure V supporters who defeated the Downtown Specific Plan. Lots of useful experiences have gone before you. And the Mod is right - make the time work for you."Why are you talking about negotiations before you talk to us?" indeed.

I can't believe their going to tear another Sierra Madre icon, "The Christian Science Church" all for more development and money. It seems nothing in Sierra Madre is sacred anymore, not even life itself.

My name is William Stout. I reside in a restored 1913 craftsman house in Pasadena. I am an artist on the board of the California Art Club, the oldest art organization west of the Mississippi. I have murals depicting prehistoric life at the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and at Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom. My two latest murals will debut at the San Diego Zoo at the end of September.

I have been in my current studio for over 25 years, in part of one of the four remaining historic luxury hotels left in Pasadena, the Evanston Inn. Unfortunately (for me), the building has been sold and all the current tenants must vacate by October 1.I would love to purchase the church in Sierra Madre at 186 Highland and restore the building and grounds to what it looked like in 1921. I would turn the inside of the church into my new studio. I would never cause a traffic problem unless you consider one additional car in the neighborhood a problem. I do teach a drawing workshop on Sunday from 10AM - 1PM. My workshop is small (3 to 12 people), so there might be 3 to 12 cars there for three hours on Sunday, which I think the church parking lot could easily accommodate.

What I propose seems to address all of the concerns of the nearby residents. Is there any way we could make this happen? Unfortunately, because of my vacate notice, I need to move before the end of September. Thank you for considering my offer.

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